Page 54 of Cast to be Mine

I flipped the omelet, buying myself a few seconds. “Yeah. We probably do.”

“I don’t regret it,” she said quickly.

“Neither do I.”

“But we need to be smart about this.” She traced a pattern on the countertop with her finger. “The last thing either of us needs is for our first big movie to get overshadowed by relationship drama. If word gets out that the director is sleeping with the lead actress, we’ll be all over TMZ.”

I slid the omelet onto a plate and set it in front of her. “So we keep it quiet. No one finds out.”

“Can we do that?” She picked up her fork, meeting my eyes. “I mean, we’re going to be on set together every day. Working closely. People notice things.”

“We’ve been working closely and no one’s noticed anything.”

“We weren’t sleeping together for those weeks.”

“True.” I sat down next to her. “But I think we can manage. We’re both professionals. On set, we keep it strictly business. Whatever this is, it stays off the clock.”

“Agreed.”

She took a bite of the omelet, chewing thoughtfully. “This is really good.”

I called her an Uber while she gathered her things after breakfast. At the door, she paused, turning back to face me. She rose on her tiptoes and kissed me on the cheek.

“See you on set,” she said.

“Later.”

I showered, dressed, and tried to get my head back in the game. We had a full day of shooting ahead. I needed to focus on the work, not on the way Grace had felt in my arms or the sound of my name on her lips.

Professional. Strictly professional.

The soundstage was already buzzing with activity when I arrived. I’d barely made it through the door when Toby came sprinting toward me, his face pale as a ghost.

“Micah!” He was practically shouting. “Micah, you need to see this.”

He shoved his phone into my hands. My stomach dropped through the floor.

The headline screamed in bold red letters: Sex scandal on Breathless!

No. No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. We’d been so careful. It had only been a few hours. How had they caught us already? Had someone seen us in the car? Had there been a photographer lurking outside my house?

My mind raced through every possibility, each one worse than the last. This was going to destroy everything. The movie. Grace’s career. My reputation. All of it, gone in the span of one reckless night.

“Scroll down,” Toby said, his voice strained. “Look at the pictures.”

My fingers were numb as I swiped down the screen. And then I saw them.

Pictures of Jack Montana kissing a woman in a parking lot. The woman was blonde, wearing a distinctive top. The woman’s face was obscured, but the implication was clear.

And next to that photo was a picture of Grace in the exact same outfit, making it look like she was the one locked in a passionate embrace with Jack Montana.

I stared at the screen, my brain slowly catching up with what I was seeing.

That wasn’t Grace.

The blonde in the parking lot photos was Chantilly. Still wearing the wig and wardrobe from the shot. I knew damn well Grace would never be caught dead kissing Jack Montana. She couldn’t stand the guy.

I shrugged. “Not a big deal,” I said. “We’ll set the record straight. Let’s just hope Chantilly hasn’t seen it yet.”