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with gold. Jewelry looks so great on you. The star makes your stomach look so flat. I want to get a belly ring too.”
    ***
    Ashley tried to play it cool, but it was hard to keep the grin off her face. They’d scheduled her to work with the set designer, a real architect.
    Powder pointed him out, a tall thirty-something guy. “Why are you so eager? That job’s all dust and cutting.”
    “I want to be an architect.”
    Powder wrinkled her nose. “Really? I dated a construction worker once. I’m not sure you want to hang out with those guys.”
    “Yes. See you later.” Ashley went over to the architect with her hand extended. “I’m Ashley, your assistant while you’re on set.”
    “It’s usually the actors who are greeted with that kind of smile.”
    “I don’t want to act.”
    “Another rarity,” the architect said then got down to business. Moving across the set, he went over what he wanted to accomplish. After noting her genuine interest and learning she was from Texas, he spoke about dimensions and tensile strength. “Regional earthquakes mean you need strength, or structures will crumple as easily as your bleachers did.” He pointed to the beams overhead. “Could be dangerous.”
    Ashley took copious notes and followed him on his inspection. The set around them buzzed with routine activity, but she didn’t let the noise distract her.
    “PA?” someone called from the stage.
    Ashley heard him, but ignored his call.
    “PA,” Caz repeated.
    Heaving a sigh, Ashley waved Caz off.
    The architect smiled down at her. “Go ahead and take care of our star. I’ll be stage left when you’re done.”
    Ashley smiled gratefully then trotted over to Caz. “What?” she asked impatiently, watching the architect while speaking.
    Caz said, “Who’s that?”
    “What do you need? I’m busy.”
    “You’re my assistant.” Caz turned his bright gaze to her.
    “Uh, no, I’m not.”
    He waved a hand in the air. “How long is he going to be here?”
    Ashley’s gaze left the architect and she raised her eyebrows. “Look, do you need something or not?”
    “Yes.” Caz paused and looked upward as if thinking. “I need to run lines, and my microphone is off, and no one put snacks in my trailer, and—”
    Ashley crossed her arms over her chest. “You don’t let anyone in your trailer.” The architect moved some partitions and tapped on the walls, making Ashley wonder what he was checking.
    “And I want—”
    Turning back to the needy, Ashley said, “How about this. You leave me alone all morning to work with him, and I’ll make sure you have way better snacks in your trailer than the crap provided by the caterer.”
    Caz flicked a gaze at the architect. “He’ll be gone this afternoon?”
    She nodded.
    “Good snacks?”
    “Yes.”
    “And you’ll run lines with me?”
    “Can’t you run them with your buddy?” His kilt-wearing friend, Garrett, had a supporting role that kept him on the set about once a week, and he was here today.
    “He’s garbage at reading the girl parts.”
    Ashley rolled her eyes.
    Caz said, “And you have a nice voice, rich and sweet, but with a kick.”
    She heaved a mental sigh. “Okay.”
    ***
    Powder knelt at a cabinet and shoved large containers aside, digging for something.
    When Ashley reached her, she handed up a large white jug. Ashley placed it on the counter.
    Petra flounced into the makeup station and elbowed the jug aside to make room for her laptop. “You have got to see this.” The white jug teetered on the edge. “I knew this would happen. I’m always saying, you can’t always tell who your friends are. Like when I was vacationing in Madrid, and—”
    “What?” Powder asked.
    Petra’s painted lips grimaced and she poised her finger over the play button. “Check this out.”
    A polished reporter came on the screen. “I’m Karla Quintos from Tween In , online and on the air.” She tucked her glossy black hair behind her ears and held a