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Your distressed muscles will have to wait.”
    This pattern continued for the rest of the morning. If another assistant responded to his calls, Caz sent them away, and because Caz was the star, everyone indulged him. If he wasn’t directly calling her over, he was staring. Ashley couldn’t interpret his looks. Either he wanted to find out more of what she’d overheard, or hook up with her, or maybe both.
    During one of his breaks, Caz said, “What’s your phone number?”
    Ashley sighed. “You don’t need my number. I’m always here.”
    Caz flipped his phone open and examined the screen. “What if I need something after we wrap for the day?”
    Ashley bit her lip at what she wanted to answer. Could he do nothing for himself? Man, these actors were spoiled. “Guess you’ll just have to, oh, oops, sorry, I need to go help Tom with that—” Surely, someone named Tom worked on set. With those words, she left. Olive glared at her as she trotted off, as if trying to determine her destination.
    Ashley hadn’t gotten very far when she heard the director call, “Powder.” A quick glance showed Caz standing in the middle of the set ready for his close-up while stagehands adjusted equipment in the background.
    “PA,” Caz said.
    Ashley walked over to Powder. “I never knew guy actors wore so much makeup.”
    Powder shrugged and handed over a pre-dusted puff. “No more than my last boyfriend.”
    Ashley took the powder puff over to the stage area. Holding Caz’s hair back, she carefully adjusted his shine. “You need to carry a hair clip in your pocket.” His hair felt pretty silky for a guy’s and thicker than hers. Idly rubbing a strand between her fingers, she looked over his skin. She couldn’t really see the shine problem, but guessed that with high-definition images, it was better to be safe than shiny. On tiptoe, she dabbed at his forehead with the cotton ball. “There you go, shine all gone,” Ashley said somewhat condescendingly. Why couldn’t he lift the puff to take care of the problem himself?
    “Tell me what you heard,” Caz said, as she shoved the puff into her pocket.
    Okay. He just wanted to hear the reason she made the condom purchase. Instead of telling him again, she removed a Chapstick from her other pocket and swiped the balm over his lips. “You have a pretty-shaped mouth. Good thing you’re a big guy.”
    Caz’s blue-green eyes brightened, and he leaned toward her. “So the box was just a present then?”
    Ashley shook her head.
    “Did everyone get one?” Caz looked around. “Shall I ask?”
    Ashley stepped back. “Don’t make me regret helping you.”
    “I saw you with a notebook. You’re always writing in it. What are you writing?”
    “Nothing.” The notebook contained her drawings of buildings, and she kept them private; not even Dad had seen her work.
    “Are you a writer? Let me guess. You have a script you think is right for me, and are dying to have me read it? Hand the pages over then.” Caz held out a raised palm.
    “Absolutely, the hero’s this total ass who—” Ashley was cut off by the arrival of Petra and her cloud of sultry perfume.
    Petra said, “I’ve got this new belly ring, and I’m not supposed to take the loop out yet, but the AD says gems don’t work for the part of the vixen. What do you say?” Petra lifted her shirt up mid-speech, showing the silver ring piercing her belly button.
    Two star-shaped gemstones hung from a silver hoop. “I think I make the jewelry work.”
    Powder kneeled for a closer look. “Is your skin infected? The last guy I went out with had a wicked infection in one of his piercings.” Powder shook her head. “And I don’t think we should cover bacteria with makeup.”
    Petra made a cut-off squealing noise, and Ashley bit her lip.
    Caz stepped back. “You should get that checked out.”
    “I’ll take you to the infirmary,” Olive said. “I’m sure if they have to cut the ring out, they can replace the loop